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Mich. woman fined $250 for throwing grapes

Activist pelted Detroit school board members during raucous vote; hitting 1

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updated 9:22 a.m. ET Aug. 24, 2007

DETROIT - An activist who pelted school board members with grapes during a raucous vote to close 34 city schools was fined $250 for disturbing the peace.

Agnes Hitchcock, leader of the Call ’Em Out Coalition, said she will not be disruptive at future school board meetings. She said the case, which ended with her conviction and sentence Thursday, gave her a chance to speak about mismanagement in the school district.

“It was worth the risk in order to be able to talk about these things in court,” she told the Detroit Free Press.

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The grapes she threw April 4 beaned at least one board member before police led Hitchcock out of the auditorium. The board voted 6-5 to close schools because of a budget deficit and declining enrollment.

“This shows there are consequences to the actions we take,” board President Jimmy Womack said. “It’s just regrettable (Hitchcock) has no remorse for attacking school board members.”

In addition to the fine, Hitchcock must serve six months unsupervised probation.

© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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